Do racial passives make/break a class?

SevenKingdoms · January 2016

Some friends said they'd log in occasionally if I level a healer. I want to level a Dunmer, but their passives seem almost useless as a Templar healer. Would using a race not intended for the class (specifically Dunmer for Templar healer) ruin anything, or make for bad dungeon experiences?

I've read various posts about race doesn't matter, but they all seemed to be relatively old, so things may have been altered. Also, certain passives seem like they could really make a difference under certain circumstances.

LadyNalcarya · January 2016

9% magicka is far from being useless.

Erraln · January 2016

Right now, there is no content that is so challenging that only an idealized combination can clear it. Choosing your race based on the bonuses it will grant will make your play generally easier, but doing otherwise won't stop you from completing anything. Unless, of course, you're trying for #1 on the Maelstrom Leaderboards.

jcasini222ub17_ESO · January 2016

Passives matter from a min/max perspective to literally get every single mag point or health point possible. That being said, with the champ system, any race and pick any role and be effective. Not the level of effectiveness of a pure min/max build but effective.

Templar healer for example, I find the health increase, stam increase, and sprint speed increase very useful even though I'm loosing out on the magicka perks compared to other players. Note I usually just play orcs no matter if its going to be healer/tank/glass cannon/hybrid whatever, Orc Power.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · January 2016

They are not game breaking, but they do affect your build. I don' think it is nearly as important for a healer, because there are many ways to achieve the same result. With DPS, it makes more of a difference. Most people tend to "min/max" their builds for end game DPS, and certain race are simply going to out DPS others. Very competitive healers min/max like a DPS, but if you arent looking for leaderboard spots, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

A dunmer will do just fine healing. The passive to boost fire damage will likely be wasted, but the flame resist could be worse (great if you want to go vamp). You also get buffs to both Stam (blocking and dodge rolling) and Magic (all healing skills). You could do much worse than a Dunmer Templar, but my first choice would be Altmer or Breton.

starlizard70ub17_ESO · January 2016

I play all Khajiits, in every class. I'm v16 with all 5 charactors, DK crafter, DK, NB, Temp, Soc, so far I've had no problems with any content. The Khajiit's passives are stam, health, stealth and crit ability. While those are not idea for every class, they certainly don't hurt. Like others have said, unless you're trying to max/min for every single point, how you spend CPs, your gear setup, and most importaintly, how you play your charactor will determine how well you will do.

Darkeus · January 2016

you can go any race/class and make it work BUT! you will never be comparable to best combinations like red guard for stamina or elf for sorc and so on... lets say you go red guard stam nb only his adrenaline rush gets his full stamina in around 100 sec just by using a melle every 3 sec compare it to nord or dunmer.

danno8 · January 2016

Good passives are like the cherry on top.

If you bought a sundae without a cherry on top, that sundae would not be as good as one that has the cherry.

Some sundaes even have two cherries on top (like a magicka Altmer), whereas other sundaes appear to have had someone in the kitchen take a bite out of the sundae (Argonian anything).

Autolycus · January 2016

The answer is no, it does not make or break a class.

Passives play an important role in min/maxing, not in developing a viable build.

Autolycus · January 2016

Erraln wrote: »

Right now, there is no content that is so challenging that only an idealized combination can clear it. Choosing your race based on the bonuses it will grant will make your play generally easier, but doing otherwise won't stop you from completing anything. Unless, of course, you're trying for #1 on the Maelstrom Leaderboards.

And even if you are trying for #1 on the leaderboards, your race isn't going to make that happen. Your experience, build, playstyle, attention to detail - "player skill" - will make that happen.

Further clarification of build - race can be a factor, but there are other ways to accommodate a race you'd prefer to play. The general consensus, at least from what I've gathered, is that racials make min/maxing easier. It's not a necessity.

Mojmir · January 2016

Ill let you know when they fix khajit

Pepper8Jack · January 2016

I PvP'd, ran dungeons, and learned how to do vMSA on an altmer stam sorc... So I literally only benefited from 4% extra shock damage. I could tell I wwas much more squishy than I would be as an imperial, and I didn't have the regen of a redguard, but I played with the build a bit and made it work. Like others have said, it only really matters if you're trying to squeeze every bit of juice out of the character, and it certainly won't exclude you from being able to complete anything.

Besides, you could definitely do worse than a dark elf as a magic-based healer